Flotations flounder as buy-outs boom

Only eight companies came to the stock market in the third quarter of the year, raising just £385m, according to KPMG Corporate Finance,

But the number of management buy-outs has boomed - they have jumped more than £2bn in value between the second and third quarters of this year, with £5.6bn of deals being struck between July and September.

According to the Centre for Managment Buy Out Research, activity had been boosted by by the £1.45bn buy out of Burger King from Diageo, and also included six public to private deals.